Value for money should be the touchstone for the delivery of public services.
Public service providers are continually looking for ways in which to improve
performance and reduce costs. However, it is not always easy to baseline the
costs being targeted and to monitor the successful implementation of cost
reduction programmes. To do so requires, first and foremost, an effective
finance function.
Some key questions for our ‘Delivering public services
cost-effectively’ research programme include:
How can finance functions provide better information
with which to manage performance and cost, improve utilisation of assets and
simplify activities?
What contribution can shared services, outsourcing and
partnering make to the goal of strategic cost management?
Finance functions in government and the public sector face one common and pervasive challenge – balancing competing demands of finance efficiency, compliance and control, and insight. In any organisation, finance must juggle with running efficiently, demonstrating value for money while establishing and maintaining effective controls to manage risk, and delivering real insight to the business.Finance at the crossroads: The changing role of finance in government and the public sector is part of a wider global research project on the future of finance in the public sector and examines the trends, issues and changing environment faced by finance directors across the UK public sector. The findings demonstrate that finance in the sector is at a crossroads and faces significant challenges. The current economic climate means that now more than ever finance must speak up – and be listened to. However, a place at the top table will only be earned when finance is seen not simply as a scorekeeper but as a business partner, adding value across government and the public sector.
The third sector makes a significant
contribution to society, employing 650,000 people, and contributing nearly
£9 billion a year to the UK economy with social enterprises alone.
The sector has evolved at a rapid rate, assisted over the last decade by a
determined push from Whitehall to create a more mixed economy for public
service delivery.
We commissioned this independent survey as part of our work
on the smarter state in order to understand how to maximise the positive impact
of the third sector on public service delivery and to examine the views towards
partnerships between the sectors as one route to delivery of this
agenda.
The research findings demonstrate that both sectors broadly
support partnerships, even though the third sector is consistently more
ambivalent. Both sectors say there is a need to focus on how to make the
partnerships themselves work most effectively - that the key to collaborative
working is to invest time and energy in building mutual understanding,
developing shared goals and effective ways of working together. At the heart of
the debate is how social and private enterprise can best work together to
deliver better public sector social outcomes.
Much has been done in recent years to promote and support
shared services initiatives in the UK. However, because of the sheer breadth of
the public sector, progress to date has been achieved in spite of, rather than
because of, an overarching vision. Much work remains to be done to yield the
benefits that could be achieved if a more joined-up approach to shared services
were adopted.
Freeing the front Line: Where next for corporate shared
services in the public sectorchallenges government
on its vision and sets out a roadmap for shared services. We also explore
recent developments in the public sector’s implementation of the shared
services strategy in the UK and discuss potential lessons from the commercial
sector.
The last decade has seen a determined push by Whitehall to
create a more mixed economy for public service delivery. The policy objective,
has been to transform the UK's £79bn public service market
by widening choice, lowering cost and radically improving
service delivery. The third sector has been an important part in this reform
process, and is portrayed by politicians from all parties as an important
element in the mixed provision of services.However,
the reality of growing the third sector has not always matched the
rhetoric.
This publication examines the critical challenges being faced in
accessing new market opportunities for social enterprises. Specifically, we
explore how partnerships and alliances between the third and private sectors
may be necessary to achieve the critical mass in capacity and capability in
order to address larger and more complex service requirements.
In the UK, there has been a lot of speculation about the
direction of project finance lending for PPP transactions in light of the
current banking turmoil. Many have concluded that long term loans are no longer
feasible in light of the capital and liquidity constraints the banks face. But
is this true? PwC carried out a review of over 20 UK banks with one-on-one
interviews at the beginning of 2009 to find out their lending appetite for PPP
transactions and their structural preferences. The responses were striking not
only in their diversity, but in the differences in underlying motivations that
led banks to their respective positions.
Across the globe, governments are increasingly turning to the
private sector to fund critical infrastructure developments. Whether in the
energy, environmental, transport or social infrastructure sectors, the private
sector is funding the infrastructure assets which provide core public services.
At a time when governments are facing greater financial constraints than
ever before, and should be turning to the private sector to meet the
infrastructure funding gap, the financial markets are in turmoil due to the
credit crunch.
What is the credit crunch, how has it affected the infrastructure markets,
and what is the outlook for the future? One year on from the beginning of the
credit crunch, we explore some of the issues surrounding the infrastructure
marketplace and consider the impact of the credit crunch on the market's
future.
Housing associations play an increasingly important role in
today’s UK housing market. They are leading suppliers of affordable
homes, major partners in regeneration and estate renewal, and providers of a
wide range of vital welfare services to the most vulnerable in our communities.
The drop in lending due to the credit squeeze and the sharp reduction in
private new-build have increased the pressure on housing associations to
maintain the flow of affordable homes in all areas of the country. Against this
backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty and tighter constraints on public
spending and private lending, we examine the funding considerations that follow
from these policy changes and challenges. In particular, we look at and discuss
the options for new and innovative ways to utilize housing association assets
and financing capacity.
What kind of care system does the UK want, why and for whom?
This is the focus for a major new report by the Institute for Public Policy
Research (ippr) on the UK care system, supported by PwC. The report puts
forward proposals for a new care system, looking across the range of services
that support adults with care needs and their carers and families. The paper
outlines how local services could be more personal and joined-up to enable all
individuals, families and communities to flourish. The paper also suggests
where the UK should go next on individual budgets, support for carers, and
community engagement in services.
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is experiencing
unprecedented levels of activity in projects aimed at modernising public and
social infrastructure, as the region works to meet its estimated €500 billion
total infrastructure investment need. This paper provides a brief background on
current developments in the infrastructure sector in the CEE region, highlights
several major upcoming opportunities, outlines the key practical challenges in
bidding for these projects successfully and shares lessons learnt from our
experience on how to deliver them. In addition to providing a backdrop on
infrastructure activity in the CEE region overall, the paper focuses on five
major territories where PPP opportunities are the most plentiful - Poland,
Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic.
Our new annual study, 'Regulate & Collaborate: Government
and the Global CEO', compares and contrasts the viewpoints of CEOs and
top-level government officials on regulation and the extent of collaboration
between the public and private sectors and comments on the extent of
government-to-government collaboration, the global challenge of climate change
and the future for public-private relationships. This report builds upon
PricewaterhouseCoopers prestigious Annual Global CEO Survey, launched at the
World Economic Forum in Davos, which for the first time this year includes
views from an international sample of public sector leaders as well as those
from business CEOs.
This publication looks at the impact of the Private Finance
Initiative (PFI) in the light of the impending adoption of International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by the UK Government from 2008/2009
onwards. The new standards are likely to bring most PFI projects on balance
sheet and so the accounting driver for public bodies to procure projects
through PFI will disappear. The paper asks whether this matters. Has PFI
brought about the benefits hoped for? To the extent it has, what has been the
contribution of private finance? How important is the 'F' in 'PFI'? And will
the impending accounting changes actually open up the way towards structuring
projects more effectively?
The UK Government, in both its 2007 Sub-National Review of
Economic Development and Regeneration and 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review,
has proposed a range of new local financing tools that place a premium on local
innovation in order to address its current infrastructure funding gap. We have
been working with the Centre for Cities to explore how these and other new
financial tools can help unlock greater infrastructure investment - which is
critical to securing sustainable growth in our cities and towns. This new
survey captures the market’s views and attitudes towards greater
financial devolution in funding infrastructure investment.
Public sector leaders around the world face a common set of
challenges if their services are to meet the increased expectations of their
customers – both citizens and businesses. This study identifies these
challenges and shares lessons learnt, from examples around the world, to offer
a structured approach in support of public sector leaders in their work to
improve public services and deliver on the customer promise.
Supplementary Business Rates (SBRs) have recently been
proposed as a mechanism to allow cities to generate additional funds for
infrastructure investment. This paper presents new analysis that illustrates
their possible contribution and the main challenges that must be tackled by
city leaders, business and central government if SBRs are to finance local
growth. It is part of the joint City Solutions project we are undertaking in
the UK with Centre for Cities.
How should we define UK public services and what aims should
we have for them? We have been supporting this ippr project which revisits the
case for the reform of public services in the UK and charts a way ahead. It
argues that public service reform should now focus on getting the relationships
right between central and local government, services and their workforce,
citizens and public service users. This requires not just a change of approach
on the part of central government, but a new a new set of bargains and
responsibilities on all sides, with information and accountability at the heart
of a new system of public service improvement. The report is being published as
a contribution to the debate in the run-up to the Comprehensive Spending
Review.
NLGN reportPwC supported a project with the New Local
Government Network in the UK to develop proposals for improving how local
authorities harness investment from Government, the private sector, the EU and
RDAs for capital projects.The proposals are now published in a report which
examines how to simplify the grant funding framework. It goes to the heart of
the ongoing debate on new “localism” in the UK – how to
enable local government to have the capacity and flexibility to meet the
challenge of financing future economic development. The study adopts a wide
definition of economic development that covers all of the aspects that drive
both the economic competitiveness of local areas and creating the sense of
place required to deliver sustainable and inclusive communities.
Are outsourcing contracts delivering benefits for the
public sector? PricewaterhouseCoopers addresses the questions surrounding the
delivery of UK public sector outsourcing programmes.
Pay in the UK public sector should be better aligned with the
needs of public services in order to increase efficiency and provide a
motivated workforce. The design of pay progression and performance pay should
be based on the jobs people are doing and those jobs should be based on the
service delivery models within which they are working. We believe the
over-centralised decision making prevents this from happening. It also means
that inadequate account is taken of market rates of pay, including the
different levels of pay which should be applied in different parts of the
UK.
On 4 July 2006, the Hansard Society publishedThe fiscal maze: Parliament, government and public
money, which looks at how the UK Parliament holds
government to account for the money it raises and it spends on our behalf. The
report argues that Parliament’s scrutiny of taxation, expenditure and
public services is fundamental to our political system but that Parliament
could and should do more to make an impact and secure full accountability from
government.
UK Parliament is responsible for authorising and scrutinising
over £500 billion of public expenditure. This interim paper, part
of a major study by the Hansard Society, considers how effectively this work is
carried out.Inside the Counting Househighlights the strengths and weaknesses of the current system
ahead of a larger final report, published in spring 2006, which identifies
options for reform.
This report is a thorough examination of the UK
Government’s use of targets in four public services: education, health,
housing and the criminal justice system. The report sets out the design flaws
in the current targets regime but concludes, however, that these flaws are the
result of specific design problems. This report presents a range of practical
proposals to improve the way in which targets are designed in the future. These
are illustrated with a definition of a "good target", encapsulating the
principles of how, and when, targets should be set.
The pressure to achieve value for money is coming at UK local
government from all sides. Central government is determined that public
services have to become both more effective and efficient. Tax payers are
reluctant to see their taxes increase. Competing demands for priority services
such as education and social services mean that local authorities have to
manage their resources to meet citizen expectations.
